Everyone that uses them seems to love them. I have plants in 1 1/2" to 4" Oyama's and they seem to love them. My only problem with them is that I can't see through them.

Thom

Hi Andrew,
I went back and reread your intro etc. I think the best thing you can do for your AV's is to lay off on the TLC. From what I read you are killing your plants with kindness and I want to second the suggestion that you should give your plants a rest.
Personally I prefer wicking to Oyama pots. I have tried them and found that they are a pain to water. You have to lift each plant up and refill the reservoir up to a specific line. This plus the fact that they look awkward whcn showing them at a show. Plus they are expensive. I wick water all my av's using a standard mix of 1-1-1 proportions of pro mix B or commercial potting mix with equal parts of coarse vermiculite and coarse perlite. I don't add any dolomite lime or anything else. I've tossed in a handful of horticultural charcoal if I have it on hand but otherwise I keep it simple. My pots are all plastic andd are squat pots except that I use plastic 3oz. Solo cups for all my minis, semis and leaf starts.
I use 4 ply acryllic yarn for wicking my standards and separate it into two strands for my minis and semis. My reservoirs are left over deli containers (pint size) with two holes cut in the lid, one for the wick and the other for filling. I try not to let the plants go dry as that promotes suckering and changes in culture that can lead to a culture break in the crown. I pot all my plants with a dry mix and set them into a sink to start the capillary action. I try not to leave them sitting in water for more than 30 minutes. From there they go to a reservoir which has been filled with a urea free fertilizer about half the recommended dosage and water. From there they go onto my plant stand to grow and recover from the repotting process. If the plant is new to my collection, I Isolate it for about 3 months. I know that sounds a bit extreme but it works for me.
Just don't give up trying. This voice of experience and many others like me have all suffered setbacks till we found our own personal method of growing things. I know that I do a many strange things to my plants which contradict all the proper growing instructions I have read over the past 25+ years of growing. You can try numerous things with your plants but once you have found success it will be your unique way of growing. Just use good common sense when growing.
HOpe this will help.
Fred in NJ